


Jarring

by novemberrabbit



Category: Broken Reality Server - Fandom, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Identity Swap, Midoriya Izuku Has One for All Quirk, Or Is It?, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Kamino Ward Arc (My Hero Academia), more tags will be added when i finish this, no beta we just die, rip to those reading it after the update i guess, some of them are a bit spoiler-y, while not the focus of the fic his time in middle school still affects izuku badly at times
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:06:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26129251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novemberrabbit/pseuds/novemberrabbit
Summary: A small chuckle echoed across the room, eerily high-pitched and loud despite the noise and chatter of the others. No one payed attention to it but Izuku’s head snapped towards the source of that sound.He was met with a pair of grey eyes before Todoroki turned his head towards Shinsou once again, continuing their discussion. Izuku wondered if he had perhaps been only imagining things but the uneasiness in him persisted.Midoriya can't help but feel like something is significantly different about Todoroki today - he just can't quite put his finger on what exactly it is. Unfortunately, no one else seems to notice anything being wrong.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	Jarring

**Author's Note:**

> There will be mentions and appearances of original characters from an AU a group of absolute lunatics I'm part of has developed. This can be read and understood without prior knowledge though, I just sometimes plant a few easter eggs in there that only a handful of people can catch.
> 
> Tags will be updated once I post the second (and last) chapter.

Izuku never had a lot of friends in his life before.

He couldn’t be as confident and sure of his abilities as Kacchan, and his mumbling and strong fixation on quirks and heroes were dubbed as creepy and unlikeable by others. Of course, there was also the fact that he was quirkless and how Kacchan had made sure that none of their fellow classmates in middle school would even _think_ of associating themselves with him, lest they want to make an enemy out of the strongest student at Aldera Junior High.

This all changed the moment Izuku had stepped foot on the school grounds of UA, suddenly finding himself surrounded by all kinds of different people with amazing quirks who, surprisingly, seemed to not only tolerate but even enjoy his presence.

Even though by this time, it was a common occurrence, he still couldn’t help but brighten up a little bit, every time Uraraka laughed cheerfully without any hint of annoyance while talking to him, every time Iida was chopping his hands in the air, showing an equal amount of interest and excitement in the discussion as Izuku did. He felt a warm lightness spreading inside him every time Asui tried to convince him to refer to her as Tsuyu, saying that she wants all her friends to call her that, every time Todoroki looked at him, his face impassive and yet his mismatched eyes always so slightly softened, a small but important distinction from his cold behavior at the beginning of the school year.

Izuku treasured all these new friendships he had been lucky enough to form as he was attending UA. Each of them held such a special place in his heart and sometimes, he still couldn’t fully wrap his head around the fact that they all cared for him just as much as well.

_Him_ , _~~quirkless~~ useless Deku._ The pain and feeling of inferiority, of not being _good enough,_ from before he met All Might still clung to him. At times, he felt as if he was too undeserving of the kindness and friendship the others were offering him.

Maybe that was why he felt a tinge of guilt mixed in with this strong sense of _wrongness_ as he sat here in the cafeteria, glancing at Todoroki next to him. Uraraka, Iida and Asui were deeply focused on discussing the upcoming group project Aizawa had brought up the lesson before, acting and talking as any normal day – because it _was_ a normal day, a small part in Izuku’s minds insisted, the same one who always berated him for his uselessness and incapability of fully mastering One For All.

_What is_ wrong _with you? Everything is alright, so why are you kicking up a fuss?_

But the unsettling feeling as if something was fundamentally wrong refused to go away. It had taken hold of him the moment he entered the classroom this morning. The air in the room had seemed _different._ It made Izuku think of it almost like a sort of invisible blanket laid over everything, covering up… _something._ The difference only was that no one but him appeared to notice it.

* * *

_Izuku suddenly stopped mid-movement just as he was about to pass the threshold to the classroom, feeling a shiver running down his spine and his body tensing. He didn’t know what caused him to react that way but he felt One For All’s energy pulsing under the his skin, ready to be unleashed at a moment’s notice._

_His eyes roamed through the room and scanned his classmates who were either sitting on their seat or standing around chatting among each other. Nothing seemed to be amiss. There was a certain sense of normalcy floating around seldom felt since the events of Kamino and the subsequent retirement of All Might._

_And yet, something about this image played before his eyes irritated him, like a puzzle that would have been complete except for the one glaring piece missing in the middle of it. A strange noise kept buzzing in his ear, making his head ache._

_When his gaze finally landed on Todoroki, standing a few meters away from him and chatting with Shinsou on his right, something akin to an electric shock went through Izuku’s system before disappearing just as quickly, leaving him standing around dazed._

_“Oi, out of the way, damn nerd!”_

_Kacchan forcefully pushed him out of the doorstep before brushing past him and making his way to his seat, glaring at Kirishima’s cheerful “Good morning, Bakugou!” before throwing himself on his chair._

_Izuku stumbled into the room and for a second, it felt like he was plunged into water. The strange sensations he’d experienced earlier slipped out of his memory, washed away as he had set foot into the domain._

_“Are you okay, Deku?” Uraraka appeared by his side, followed by Iida._

_“Yes, don’t worry. Kacchan didn’t really hurt me with that,” he replied, laughing nervously while rubbing his aching shoulder. “Besides, it’s my own fault for daydreaming and being in his way. I was blocking the entrance to class.”_

_“Even so, that behavior isn’t fit to be that of a honorable UA student of the hero’s course! Bakugou could have first politely asked you to let him through instead of resulting to such uncouth means!” Iida said, still scandalized by how Kacchan had treated Izuku. Uraraka nodded in agreement._

_He shook his head, not sure how he could explain to his friends his relationship with Kacchan and how something small like that was just common occurrences between the two of them._

_“Anyway,” he said hurriedly, eager to change the subject, “do you guys know of any good laundromats near UA? Since the washing machines in our dorms broke, I have a lot of clothes that need to be washed.”_

_“I’m still looking too,” Uraraka sighed. “Iida and I went to one last week, but that place was really shady and weird. All our clothes have purple flowers on them now!”_

_A small chuckle echoed across the room, eerily high-pitched and loud despite the noise and chatter of the others. No one payed attention to it but Izuku’s head snapped towards the source of that sound._

_He was met with a pair of grey eyes before Todoroki turned his head towards Shinsou once again, continuing their discussion. Izuku wondered if he had perhaps been only imagining things but the uneasiness in him persisted._

* * *

“Midoriya?”

Izuku almost jumped out of his seat as he heard the voice next to him. The others stopped talking and threw concerned looks in his direction. Izuku felt his face heating up and he smiled sheepishly at them.

“Sorry, I… I was just lost in my thoughts and To-… Todoroki surprised me.”

“Ah, sorry.” Izuku felt his whole body tensing up as the boy next to him spoke up again and like before, this strange feeling as if something wasn’t quite right returned full force.

Todoroki looked at him apologetically, his expression almost resembling a kicked puppy. Izuku winced, the guilt that had been quietly gnawing at him becoming stronger.

“I-It’s alright! I mean, it was my fault for not paying attention to my surroundings and I probably shouldn’t have been so deep in my thoughts, really, I mean, it’s always been a bad habit and especially now as hero student I probably shouldn’t be s-“

Izuku stopped. His eyes widened as he had finally taken a look at Todoroki’s face in the middle of his rambling apology and-

Todoroki was grinning. There was a small, smug grin on his lips, all the while a sort of… mischievous amusement dancing in his grey eyes.

It was-

Izuku shuddered.

_Wrong._

_So plainly **wrong.**_

“I- I- “

“Deku!” Izuku snapped his head towards Uraraka, relieved and so incredibly thankful for her interruption.

Some of it must have been shown on his face as she gave him a questioning glance, but he only slightly shook his head, signaling that he didn’t want to talk about it right here.

“I want to go to the Support Department right now to ask Hatsume to customize my hero costume a bit, do you want to go with me? Since you mentioned before that yours need to have a few things changed too.”

“Y-Yes! I come with you!” Izuku scrambled out of his seat, nervousness etched in every part of his movements.

“Alright!” Uraraka beamed at him and for a few seconds, he could feel the anxiety he’d felt before disappear. For a few moments, everything was alright once again, and he forgot what he had been worrying about all day.

He’d barely withhold a flinch as suddenly, a hand touched his shoulder. He turned his head to look behind him and met Todoroki’s gaze, still wearing that strange smile.

_~~Had he always been this expressive?~~ _

“See you later, Midoriya,” he said in a singsong voice, his eyes still shining mischievously, almost as if he was in on some hilarious joke no one else was aware of.

“Y-Yes…,” Izuku stammered, feeling his heartbeat speed up and the adrenaline coursing through his body, as if it was preparing itself for an upcoming fight. “See you later, Todoroki.”

For some reason, Todoroki’s smile widened at that, a smile weirdly reminiscing of the Cheshire Cat from the movie Alice in Wonderland Izuku had used to watch in his childhood. “Good,” he said with a satisfied expression on his face, as he withdrew his hand from Izuku’s shoulder. As he turned away, he almost missed hearing him muttering under his breath: _“It’s still in effect…”_

Before Izuku had any time to question what he meant with that, he was pulled away by Uraraka who was worried that they might not have enough time to go to Hatsume until the bell rang if they stayed any longer.

As he turned his back on Todoroki and exited the cafeteria with Uraraka chatting by his side, the distance between them growing wider and wider, his thoughts and wariness about Todoroki quickly vanished, as if they had never existed in the first place.

Almost like magic.

* * *

On the way back from the support department – after having survived up to three explosions Hatsume managed to cause during the ten minutes they were there – Izuku was discussing the new upgraded equipment of their hero suits with Uraraka when she suddenly asked: “Are you okay, Deku?”

“Huh?” he said, confused by the sudden question. “Yeah, I’m- I’m alright. Why?”

“Well, you looked a little unwell during lunch – and this morning too, actually, if I think about it. You kind of seemed really freaked when Todoroki talked to you, Deku. Are you sure everything’s alright? You can talk to me or Iida, you know! We’re there for you,” she said with a bright smile, though the worry was clear on her face.

Izuku blinked as he listened to Uraraka, bewildered by what she’d said. He didn’t remember feeling any particularly different today or when he talked to Todoroki – though, now that he tried to recall anything specific about these two time periods, the memory became more worryingly blurred on the edges… _was he under the influence of a foreign quirk perhaps?_

He startled and felt dread creeping up on him as he considered this possibility. Right now, he didn’t feel any different or as if he was under a sort of influence.

“How did I behave, exactly?” he asked Uraraka, barely withholding the urgency he felt from leaking into his voice.

“Oh – ehm, like you were scared of something. Especially when I asked you to come with me to visit Hatsume while you were talking with Todoroki, you seemed weirdly relieved when you looked at me and answered.”

On a dark corner in his mind, he could faintly recall this exchange – and as if they had only waited for him to remember, the unease and paranoia from before weakly made their presence known once again, only barely perceptible behind the fog in Izuku’s head.

But this was enough to draw Izuku’s attention and with it, his suspicion, towards it.

They were close enough to their classroom now that he could see a few of their classmates lounging around in front of the door. Among them, there was Todoroki.

In the instant Izuku’s eyes grazed Todoroki, he was vividly thrown back to the now clear memories of his last few interactions with him and his breath hitched.

Uraraka noticed his sudden change in demeanor.

“Deku?”

“Say, Uraraka…,” he said, his mouth dry and a slight trembling heard in his voice. He was dimly aware of One For All resisting against his restraints and trying to activate, its energy coursing through his veins and making him hear his blood rush in his ears. “Don’t you think Todoroki is a little more different today than usually?”

Uraraka tilted her head to the side, confusion evident in her face. She looked over to Todoroki again, as he was standing a small distance away from the others, phone in his hand. He seemed to be texting someone, his mouth curled up to a slightly mocking smile as he brushed away a few strands of his teal hair falling onto his face.

“I…,” she hesitated for a second, suddenly unsure what to say. Then, her eyes glazed over for a split second before returning to its usual bright shine. “I don’t think so. Why?”

Izuku didn’t respond, having a gut feeling that he should refrain from telling Uraraka about his wariness towards Todoroki. Besides, it wasn’t as if he would be able to put into words the troubling sensations he’d experienced today, especially without any concrete proof. At worst, she might think he’d gone crazy. He also didn’t want to risk alienating Todoroki from their friend group should Uraraka actually believe him, in case it truly was simply him being too on edge lately and jumping to wrong conclusions. He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself for breaking Todoroki’s trust like that.

His chest ached as he thought back to Aldera High, remembering how his former classmates had taunted him even more than usual and threw derisive words at him every time he so dared to step out of line.

They both arrived at the door now and peeking into the room, Izuku saw that the other half of the class were already inside. Iida was currently fiercely debating the importance of properly wearing the school uniform to Ashido who seemed to be of the firm belief students should be allowed to modify their uniform to suit their own fashion sense.

He smiled at Uraraka though he was aware that smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“You can already go in, Uraraka. I’ll be inside in a bit.” He peered at Todoroki who stood a few steps behind them, still busy on his phone. It looked like he was about to take a call right now. He could see some small stickers glued onto the dark grey surface of his phone case, some of which were of a bright blue color, standing out horrifically in the dark background.

_Hell blue,_ Izuku’s mind titled this atrocious combination of colors with the phone case.

He noticed a small charm on Todoroki’s phone that had a miniature jar with its cracks taped together by duct tape dangling from its bright green strap. It might be his eyes playing a trick on him, but he almost thought that there was some strange mist moving inside that jar.

He waved at Uraraka as she went inside the classroom already and cautiously approached Todoroki who was in the middle of a somewhat heated discussion as he furiously whispered into his phone, trying to keep the other students from listening in on his call.

Izuku wasn’t proud of it but he tried to keep his steps light and silent, careful not to tip off Todoroki of his presence, the curiosity having gotten hold of him. Although the guilt was still festering inside him.

_Maybe something happened with his family and that’s why he’s behaving so strangely today._

_Who am I to have any right to force myself into his business when it doesn’t have anything to do with me?_

He almost turned around right there and left to join Uraraka and Iida before he would breach into Todoroki’s privacy and irreversibly betray his trust when he heard Todoroki loudly proclaim “ _You guys did_ what _during the attack?!_ Did you manage to escape?”

Izuku froze and felt his eyes widening. Attack? What was Todoroki talking about? _And to whom?_

Unfortunately for him, Todoroki noticed how loud he was talking right now and immediately dialed his volume down again, reverting to his almost inaudible mumbling from before.

Izuku tried to inch closer without attracting attention but he still could hardly make out any of the words in the dialogue.

He picked up a few stray words like “ _glitter bombs”_ and _“furries”_ (Izuku hoped that he misheard that one) but one word stood out in particular during the hushed conversation as it was the one mentioned the most.

_“Cryptic.”_

Todoroki’s tone had been light every time he said it, with a certain underlying amusement in his voice. It reminded Izuku a little of how siblings would sound like when they were talking about each other, a friendly taunting here and a mean jab there. He didn’t know why but he felt as if this word was important in figuring out what was going on with Todoroki. It was a clue and he already felt his fingers itching to write every single theory down in one of his notebooks as to what this might mean.

However, he had been too absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t realize Todoroki finished his call and as he turned around, he recognized that the window for leaving without being noticed had passed by.

As he was met Todoroki raising an eyebrow at him standing there, Izuku forced down his embarrassment and tried to act nonchalantly.

“Hi Todoroki! I- uh, I saw you standing there, and I just wanted to, uhm, apologize to you again for before,” he stuttered, “And also for being so weird today. I guess I’m just feeling a little bit under the weather…” he laughed awkwardly. “So, uh… who were you talking to on the phone?”

Izuku winced. _So much for acting casually._

Todoroki stared at him for a few seconds longer than it was comfortable, the silence between them stretching on longer and longer.

“It was just my family,” he finally replied. Izuku could’ve sworn he heard bells jingling in the background as he had said this.

“They’ve badly messed up with something and called me to ask for my help,” Todoroki continued, his lips twitching to a smile again. “I said I was busy today and they should be able to weasel out of their situation without me.”

“Oh, uh, if it’s an emergency, I’m sure Aizawa will allow you to skip the last class- “

He shrugged his shoulders, face unconcerned. “I’m sure they’ll be fine. If not, I will just pick up their shriveled corpses myself afterwards.”

Izuku opened and closed his mouth again, unsure how to respond to this.

Todoroki brushed past him, apparently seeing their conversation as closed. “Come, Midoriya. Let’s go to class before we get our heads ripped off by Aizawa for being late.”

Izuku stared at the retreating back of Todoroki and was about to follow him – deciding to investigate the matter after class instead – until he remembered how the memory of him feeling wary and on edge had somehow magically faded away the moment he had left the cafeteria with Uraraka.

He bit on his lower lip, thinking through the possibility of this happening again. He couldn’t risk forgetting again. It would cost him a lot of time he could’ve spent researching.

When Todoroki entered through the door and he almost lost his sight of him, he quickly scrambled after him, determined not to risk it.

Arriving on his seat, he immediately pulled out one of his notebooks and hastily wrote down: _Todoroki, behaving strangely today + One For All acting out. Find out why. Potential clue: **Cryptic.**_

He bolded and underlined the word for good measure before closing and slipping the notebook back in his bag, unaware of how his actions had been observed by someone sitting at the very back of the classroom.

* * *

That someone in question had his elbow on the table, head resting on his hand, and mildly wondered whether it was worth intervening in regard to the issue at hand.

_Well, it’s not like it would ruin anything even if he_ does _find anything relevant out,_ he thought. _Anyway, it might be interesting to see if he’ll be able to see truth._

Normally, there were hardly ever any people who end up suspecting him, it was the nature of his power after all. But there was something peculiar about this boy. He recalled the few split seconds he had felt the hair in his neck rising when he had been near him, picking up on a dangerous power that flashed up and died down just as quickly.

“Todoroki?”

He lazily turned his head to the right, finding the girl next to him, Yaoyorozu Momo, throwing him a conspiratorial smile.

“Careful, you’re staring really intently at Midoriya right now. You might want to be more subtle if you don’t want anyone catching on,” she said teasingly.

For a moment, he just looked at her bewilderedly, wondering if she was someone _from his side_ until realizing what she had implied.

He burst out laughing, much to Yaoyorozu’s surprise, accidentally letting a bit of his real self slip into his voice and causing Midoriya Izuku to flinch and sneak a what he probably thought inconspicuous glance at him. He looked straight into the widened, slightly scared eyes of the boy and gave him a sharp grin, daring him to say anything. They both knew no one in this room had noticed anything.

“Noted.”


End file.
